923.4 


Ll'-ICAL  SffiuEl 


RECOLLECTIONS 

CHE 

Tin-  Bl-XCH  .VXD  THE  BAR 

CENTRAL  ILLINOIS. 

*  HON.  J  A  M  K  S    C .  C  O  N  K  L  1  X  ( i , 

Sl'RI  NO  FIELD. 


RECOLLECTIONS 


OF   THK 


THE  BENCH  AND  THE  BAR 


OF 


CENTRAL  ILLINOIS. 


A    LECTURE 

KKAD  BEFORE  THE  CHICAGO  BAR  ASSOCIATION, 
FAIRBANK   HALL,  WEDNESDAY  EVENING,  JANUARY  12,  1881. 


HON.  JAMES   C.CONKLING, 

SPRINGFIELD. 


CHICAGO: 

FERGUS    PRINTING   COMPANY. 
1881. 


1 


Wednesday  Evening,  January  12th,  1881,  the  second  lec- 
ture before  the  Association  was  delivered  by  Hon.  James 
C.  Conkling,  of  Springfield,  Illinois. 

Quite  a  large  number  of  ladies  graced  the  occasion  by  their 
presence,  and  it  was  remarked  that  more  than  half  of  the  judges 
of  the  Cook  County  Courts  were  in  attendance. 

In  the  absence  of  the  President,  R.  Biddle  Roberts,  Esq.,  Vice- 
President,  presided. 

Mr.  Roberts  said :  Ladies  and  gentlemen !  The  agreeable  duty 
devolves  upon  me  of  introducing  the  distinguished  and  eloquent 
Lecturer  of  the  evening. 

Mr.  Conkling  has  selected  for  his  subject  "The  Early  Bench 
and  Bar  of  Central  Illinois,"  and  when  we  remember  -that  he 
was  contemporary  with,  and  an  active  associate  in  practice  dur- 
ing the  palmy  days,  professionally  and  politically,  of  those  great 
men  who  adorned  the  Bar  of  this  State  in  passed  years,  we  can 
realize,  in  some  degree,  the  rich  field  from  which  he  can  draw  for 
our  information  and  entertainment. 

Some  few  of  those  men  survive;  some,  very  distinguished  in 
the  annals  of  our  country,  have  passed  away.  The  testimony  of 
one  who  was  with  them  and  of  them  can  not  fail  to  interest  us 
all,  more  particularly  the  Bar  Association. 

Mr.  Conkling  has  been  a  resident  of  Springfield  and  a  distin- 
guished member  of  the  Bar  of  this  State  for  nearly  forty  years, 
and  in  giving  us,  in  this  way,  the  benefit  of  his  ripe  experience 
he  does  us  high  honor. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  the  honor  to  introduce  to  you 
the  Hon.  James  C.  Conkling. 


RECOLLECTIONS 

OF 

THE  BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  CENTRAL  ILLINOIS 


BY  HON.  JAMES  C.  CONKLING,  SPRINGFIELD. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  BAR  ASSOCIATION: 

Biography  is  merely  history  in  miniature.  It  may  occupy  only 
a  brief  space,  but  it  is  more  or  less  connected  with  the  great 
drama  of  human  life.  The  personal  reminiscences  of  some  may 
be  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  vale  of  obscurity,  while  those 
of  others  may  be  so  interwoven  with  national  affairs,  that  it  may 
be  difficult  to  determine  where  biography  ends  and  where  history 
begins.  Each  possesses  its  peculiar  characteristics. 

History  instructs,  biography  pleases.  The  one  addresses  itself 
to  the  intellect,  the  other  to  the  affections.  The  one  expands 
the  mind,  the  other  intensifies  its  energies.  The  one  affords  a 
grand  and  sublime  exhibition  of  the  powers  of  the  human  will, 
when  driven  by  the  fierce  gales  of  passion  and  ambition,  while 
the  other  gratifies  the  taste  and  appeals  to  the  pleasurable 
emotions  of  a  refined  and  cultivated  mind.  The  one  resembles 
old  ocean  lashed  into  fury  by  the  tempest,  terrific  in  its  majesty, 
awful  in  its  grandeur,  relentless  in  its  stern  decrees,  regardless 
of  its  victims  and  involving  an  universal  catastrophe ;  while  the 
other  is  like  a  peaceful  river,  meandering  through  pleasant  vales, 
and  amidst  beautiful  meadows,  imparting  freshness  to  the  ver- 
dure and  elegance  to  the  scenery. 

The  personal  reminiscences  of  the  mere  lawyer,  however,  have 
few  charms  to  captivate  the  popular  mind.  It  is  true  he  may,  to 


36  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

some  extent,  control  events;  but  like  him,  who  moves  the  ever- 
shifting  panorama  of  the  stage,  he  keeps  studiously  out  of  sight. 
His  pen  may,  possibly,  be  mightier  than  the  sword;  his  whisper- 
ings may  be  more  efficient  than  the  thunders  of  artillery,  his 
opinions  may  reach  far  beyond  the  din  of  battle,  yet  his  life 
may  possess  none  of  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious 
war,  but  may  move  quietly  onward  in  almost  unrecognizable 
obscurity. 

How  this  is  avoided!  It  is  only  when  he  throws  aside  the 
dusty  tomes  of  the  law,  when  he  turns  his  back  upon  the  worm- 
eaten  volumes  of  his  library,  when  he  brushes  away  the  legal 
cobwebs  that  have  obscured  his  intellect,  it  is  only  when  he 
conies  out  into  the  pure  sunshine  of  heaven,  when  he  steps  upon 
the  broad  platform  of  active  humanity,  when  he  comes  in  con- 
tact with  the  conflicting  interests  of  society,  when  he  plays,  with 
the  fingers  of  a  skilful  master,  upon  the  excited  passions  of 
political  life,  when  he  debates,  with  fierce  enthusiasm,  the  ques- 
tions of  peace  and  war,  when  he  hurls  the  quick  retort,  the  fiery 
invective,  the  terrible  denunciation,  when  he  exposes  error, 
denounces  treason,  glorifies  patriotism,  when  he  upholds  the 
constitution,  advocates  the  integrity  of  the  union,  aye,  and  even 
apostrophizes  the  old  flag,  as  the  symbol  of  our  country's  great- 
ness and  glory,  it  is  then  that  the  mere  lawyer  sinks  into  insig- 
nificance and  he  stands  revealed  as  the  grand  and  magnificent 
statesman. 

Webster,  and  Clay,  and  Benton,  and  Calhoun,  and  hundreds 
of  others,  profound  and  eminent  as  lawyers,  might  have  worn 
out  their  lives  in  haranguing  courts  and  mystifying  juries,  and 
have  gone  down  to  their  graves,  "unwept,  unhonored,  and 
unsung,"  except  by  a  few  mourning  relatives  and  friends,  unless 
they  had  shivered  their  lances  in  senatorial  contests,  and  gallantly 
struggled  in  the  political  arena  with  illustrious  foes. 

It  is  true,  that  some  lawyers  have  acquired  distinction  as  legal 
authors,  and  as  such  will  be  remembered  through  many  genera- 
tions. Their  works  may  be  dry  and  uninteresting  to  the  general 
reader,  they  may  abound  in  too  many  nice  distinctions  and  subtle 
abstractions,  they  may  be  filled  with  technicalities  and  even 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF   CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  37 

absurdities  connected  with  black-letter  lore,  but  yet  they  contain 
the  broad  massive  foundations  upon  which  is  reared  the  legal 
superstructure  of  the  present  age.  There  are,  however,  some 
notable  exceptions.  Blackstone,  by  the  elegance  of  his  style, 
.has  thrown  a  charm  over  the  pages  of  the  law,  and  almost  con- 
structed a  royal  road  for  every  student  who  aspires  to  obtain  a 
knowledge  of  its  principles,  while  Kent  and  Story,  and  a  host  of 
others  in  our  own  land,  have  shed  a  flood  of  light  upon  its 
•elementary  doctrines,  which  will  reflect  honor  upon  their  names, 
and  render  them  illustrious  forever. 

It  is  true,  also,  that  the  judicial  ermine  has  graced  the  shoul- 
ders of  many  lawyers  who  have  won  an  enviable  fame  as  learned 
and  honorable  judges.  Mansfield,  and  Elden,  and  Ellenborough, 
have  become  famous  in  the  annals  of  English  history  as  pioneers 
•of  English  law,  while  Marshall,  and  Barbour,  and  Curtis,  and 
Woodbury,  and  McLean,  and  Taney,  and  others,  will  always 
maintain  a  distinguished  position  in  American  courts  as  profound 
and  learned  jurists.  • 

The  mere  lawyer,  however,  whose  name  is  not  inscribed  upon 
the  roll  of  fame  as  statesman,  author,  or  judge,  is  liable  to  be 
soon  forgotten  in  the  lapse  of  time.  He  may  have  been  too 
well  contented  with  the  dull  routine  of  courts.  He  may  have 
^become  too  familiar  with  contingent  remainders  and  executory 
devices.  He  may  have  striven  too  earnestly  to  master  the 
•doctrine  of  uses  and  trusts.  Estates  in  entail  and  reversion  may 
^h.ave  afforded  too  extensive  a  subject  for  his  study  and  reflection. 
Shelly's  rule,  like  the  ports  asinorum  of  the  mathematician,  may 
.have  absorbed  too  much  of  his  time  and  attention.  Or  perhaps 
the  intricacies  of  special  pleading  may  have  captivated  his  mind, 
.and  the  entire  legal  system,  with  all  its  absurdities  and  incon- 
sistencies, may  have  been  esteemed  by  him  as  the  very  perfection 
•of  reason. 

He  mourns,  therefore,  over  the  march  of  modern  improvement, 
which  tramples  with  a  ruthless  heel  upon  the  antiquated  remains 
of  the  past,  and  protests  against  the  innovations  which  have 
swept  away  the  dust  of  former  ages,  and  let  in  the  clear  sunshine 
of  a  more  enlightened  period. 


38  RECOLLECTIONS  OF   THE 

But  though  many  such  specimens  may  be  found  at  the  English 
bar,  yet  this  is  not  generally  the  character  of  the  American 
lawyer,  particularly  of  the  western  type.  Society  here  has  been, 
and  still  is,  in  a  formative  condition.  Forty  years  ago,  the  wants 
and  necessities  of  the  profession  did  not  afford  an  opportunity 
for  a  minute  investigation  into  the  records  of  the  past,  or  a  pro- 
found study  of  legal  principles.  There  were  but  few  libraries  of 
a  respectable  size,  either  public  or  private,  in  this  State.  In 
Springfield,  there  were  not  more  than  two  or  three  that  contained 
over  fifty  volumes.  In  Peoria,  Quincy,  and  Belleville,  the  pro- 
fession was  not  much  better  supplied.  In  Chicago,  probably  not 
more  than  half-a-dozen  libraries  contained  over  one,  hundred 
volumes.  The  Revised  Statutes,  the  Illinois  form-book,  and  a 
few  elementary  treatises  const'' tuted  the  usual  outfit  in  the  smaller 
towns.  Fortunate  was  the  attorney  who  could  boast  of  a  few 
English  reports,  or  those  of  New  York,  Massachusetts,  or  Ken- 
tucky, which  were  then  considered  of  standard  authority.  There 
were  but  few  cases  in  the  courts  that  required  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  learning  to  manage.  There  was  no  necessity  for  the 
application  of  the  rule,  stare  decisis,  for  there  were  few  or  no 
decisions  to  stand  upon.  Good  sound  common  sense,  the  gift  of 
speech,  a  mixture  of  natural  shrewdness  with  politics,  and  a 
regular  attendance  upon  the  courts  in  circuit,  were  the  principal 
requisites  for  success. 

Forty  years  ago,  business  was  not  so  great  in  extent  as  to 
occupy  the  full  time  of  the  lawyer.  Suits  were  not  so  numerous, 
or  so  important,  as  to  afford  a  support  for  himself  and  his  family. 
He  engaged  in  political  life  as  an  employment,  and  solicited 
office  to  improve  his  slender  income.  A  much  larger  number  of 
the  prominent  members  of  the  legal  profession  then  became 
members  of  the  State  Legislature  or  of  Congress  than  at  present. 
The  people  demanded  their  political  services,  and  they  were 
happy  and  anxious  to  accommodate  the  people.  A  political 
contest  gave  them  notoriety  among  the  masses,  and  afforded 
them  an  opportunity  to  display  their  abilities.  A  reputation  for 
eloquence  and  skill  in  debate  was  a  recommendation  as  lawyers 
in  the  practice  of  their  profession.  Hence,  we  find  the  names  of 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF   CENTRAL  ILLINOIS.  39 

Reynolds,  Edwards,  Cook,  Casey,  Breese,  Browning,  Hardin, 
Baker,  Williams,  Shields,  Douglas,  Trumbull,  Lincoln,  McCler- 
nand,  and  numerous  others  almost  as  frequently,  in  the  political 
annals  of  our  State,  as  upon  the  records  of  our  courts.  As 
lawyers  they  were  eminent.  As  statesmen  many  of  them  became 
illustrious. 

Forty  years  ago,  the  suits  that  were  instituted  were  generally 
simple  in  their  character.  The  terrible  financial  crash  of  1837 
had  left  the  country  in  a  state  of  bankruptcy.  The  vast  system 
of  internal  improvements  which  had  been  projected  in  this  State 
had  been  left  unfinished.  Contractors  were  unable  to  perform 
their  obligations.  Merchants  found  it  impossible  to  collect 
their  claims,  and  could  not  satisfy  their  own  c.-ed^tors.  The 
masses  of  the  peop'e  were  poor,  and  deeply  involved  in  debt. 
The  two-thirds  law  was  invented  for  their  protection,  and  the 
bankrupt  law  became  a  refuge  for  those  who  were  hopelessly 
insolvent.  A  very  large  proportion  of  suits  was  for  the  collection 
of  debts,  and  to  set  aside  fraudulent  conveyances.  Actions  ot 
slander,  and  trespass  for  assault  and  battery,  engendered  by  the 
state  of  feeling  incident  to  pecuniary  embarrassment,  were 
frequent.  The  records  of  our  courts,  and  the  earlier  volumes  of 
our  reports,  were  not  burdened  with  many  cases  of  a  very  serious 
or  complicated  character. 

The  history  of  the  law,  as  included  in  these  reports,  affords  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  remarkable  growth  of  our  State  in 
population  and  wealth.  The  rapid  publication  of  the  former 
has  been  commensurate  with  the  enormous  development  of  the 
latter.  The  sums  involved  in  the  earlier  actions  were  small  and 
trifling  when  compared  with  those  of  recent  years,  which  have 
frequently  been  colossal  in  size,  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars, 
while  the  questions  to  be  decided  have  been  of  the  most  difficult 
and  intricate  character.  Almost  an  entirely  new  system  of  law 
has  been  developed,  which  has  required  the  exercise  of  sound 
judgment,  clear  preception,  profound  study,  and  _extensive  re- 
search by  our  legal  tribunals. 

The  rapid  increase  of  municipal  corporations  has  required  the 
establishment  of  discriminating  rules,  by  which  to  regulate  their 

3 


40  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

complicated  interests  and  determine  their  relative  rights  and 
duties.  Questions  concerning  the  validity  of  bonds,  involving 
many  millions  of  dollars,  had  to  be  decided  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  protect  the  people  against  the  imprudence  or  the  villany  of 
their  public  agents  upon  the  one  hand,  and  maintain  the  rights 
of  innocent  purchasers  upon  the  other. 

The  vast  increase  of  life  and  fire  insurance  institutions  has 
occasioned  investigations  of  the  most  complicated  kind,  while 
our  commercial  transactions  have  multiplied  to  an  almost  infinite 
extent,  affecting  every  department  of  industry  and  enterprise,  and 
continually  presenting  novel  questions  for  settlement  by  the 
courts. 

The  enormous  expansion  of  our  railroad  system  has  alsa 
demanded  the  utmost  prudence  in  determining  how  far  the  right 
of  condemnation,  founded  upon  the  doctrine  of  eminent  domain, 
should  be  exercised,  and  how  far  the  power  of  the  legislature 
extends  in  establishing  a  system  of  rates  and  freights,  and  when. 
it  may  become  necessary  and  proper  to  curb  the  fearful  demands 
and  exactions  of  these  overgrown  monopolies  upon  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  masses.  It  is  yet  to  be  determined,  either 
by  legislative  or  judicial  authority,  how  far  the  present  absolute, 
illimitable  imperium  shall  be  tolerated  in  a  republican  imperio, 
and  how  long  railroad  monarchs,  with  hundreds  of  millions  at 
their  command,  shall  defy  the  government  made  by  the  people 
and  for  the  people. 

But  little  assistance  could  be  obtained  from  the  old  EnglLh. 
reports  in  regard  to  the  novel  and  complicated  questions  that 
have  arisen  within  the  last  forty  years.  The  genius  of  our  in- 
stitutions required  our  courts  to  break  the  shackles  and  fetters 
of  the  old  feudal  system,  and  to  apply  the  principles  dictated 
by  sound  common  sense,  an  enlightened  judgment,  and  a 
progressive  age  to  the  altered  and  peculiar  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  placed.  Our  judges  have  found  abundant 
material  in  the  decisions  of  the  courts  of  our  sister  States  to 
sustain  their  opinions,  illustrate  their  arguments,  and  enforce 
their  decrees,  without  resorting  to  English  authority;  while 
English  judges  have  drawn  inspiration  from  American  foun- 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  CENTRAL  ILLINOIS.  41 

tains  of  equity  and  law,  and  have  generously  complimented  our 
courts  upon  the  extent  of  their  learning,  the  diligence  of  their 
researches,  and  the  correctness  of  their  decisions. 

As  long  ago  as  1821,  Judge  Story  remarked  that  the  mass  of 
American  law  was  accumulating,  even  then,  with  almost  incredi- 
ble rapidity,  and  that  it  was  impossible  not  to  look  without  some 
discouragement  upon  the  ponderous  volumes  which  the  next 
half-century  would  add  to  the  groaning  shelves  of  our  jurists. 
The  half-century  has  already  passed  away.  If  Judge  Story  were 
now  living  he  would  not  only  look  with  discouragement,  but 
with  absolute  amazement  upon  the  perfect  avalanche  of  legal 
works  which  issue  yearly  from  the  press.  It  would  now  require 
a  princely  income  to  embrace  them  all  in  a  single  library,  but 
taken  en  masse,  the  American  reports  constitute  a  monument  of 
enlightened  wisdom,  erudite  scholarship,  and  profound  learning 
which  the  world  never  before  has  witnessed,  and  which  will  com- 
mand the  utmost  veneration  and  respect  in  the  courts  of  future 
ages. 

Lawyers,  however,  with  that  commendable  pride  by  which  the 
profession  is  characterized,  have  taken  great  pains  to  enlarge 
their  libraries  by  selecting  the  best  reports  and  the  most  exhaus- 
tive elementary  treatises  that  can  be  obtained.  In  Chicago, 
especially,  many  of  them,  before  the  great  fire,  possessed  inval- 
uable collections  of  legal  works  that  would  do  honor  to  any  city. 
They  were  not  satisfied  by  law  as  modified  by  our  peculiar 
institutions  and  the  progressive  ideas  of  this  enlightened  century, 
but  rare  works  in  black-letter  print,  antiquated  binding,  and  Latin 
jargon  graced  their  shelves. 

The  vast  commercial  interests  of  this  City;  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  real-estate  values;  the  enormous  expansion  of  the 
railroad  system;  the  unexampled  increase  of  an  industrious, 
energetic  population;  the  municipal  regulations,  intended  for  the 
determination  of  the  rights  of  maim  and  tuum — all  demanded 
whatever  assistance  could  be  obtained  from  the  profound  learn- 
ing of  former  ages,  as  well  as  the  enlightened  wisdom  of  the 
present.  But  the  fire  of  1871  swept  away  these  accumulated 
treasures,  as  well  as  the  wealth  and  palaces  of  her  merchant 


42  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  THE 

princes.  While  these  latter,  with  an  indomitable  energy  unsur- 
passed in  the  history  of  any  age,  were  laying  the  foundations  of 
new  and  more  splendid  edifices  amid  the  smoking  ruins  of  the 
old,  it  is  also  true  that  her  lawyers  were  active  and  vigilant  in 
ransacking  the  libraries  of  the  world  in  order  to  replace  the 
losses  incurred  by  that  terrible  calamity.  As  the  stranger  looks 
with  amazement  at  the  marble  palaces,  adorned  with  colonnades 
and  statuary  and  all  the  ornamentation  of  an  improved  architec- 
tural taste,  which  have  arisen,  phosnix-like,  from  the  ashes  of  the 
past,  he  may  also  regard  with  astonishment  the  splendid  libraries, 
public  and  private,  which  adorn  the  City,  and  prove  that  lawyers 
are  not  drones  in  society,  and  that  energy  and  enterprise  are  not' 
confined  to  the  mercantile  and  manufacturing  classes  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Forty  years  ago,  many  of  the  lawyers  who  had  assisted  in  the 
formation  of  the  original  Constitution  of  our  State,  and  who  had 
helped  to  mould  the  character  of  our  institutions,  had  passed 
away. 

Among  them  were  Gov.  Edwards^  who  is  generally  recognized 
as  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  courtly  in  his  manners,  with 
knee-breeches,  ruffled -shirt,  and  fair  top-boots;  but  a  lawyer  and 
politician  of  distinguished  ability.  Elias  K.  Kane,  who  was 
United  States  senator,  and  to  whom  principally  we  were  indebted 
for  many  of  the  peculiar  features  of  our  first  Constitution.  Daniel 
P.  Cook,  who  was  our  first  Attorney-General,  and  afterward 
member  of  Congress,  and  who  is  represented  as  "a  man  01 
eminent  talent  and  accomplishments."  George  Forquer,  who 
was  also  Attorney-General  and  a  member  of  the  Legislature  o. 
1832,  and  chairman  of  the  committee  on  internal  improvements 
at  the  session  of  1834.  Also  Benjamin  Mills,  who  was  one  01 
the  most  brilliant  orators  of  his  time,  and  who  was  engaged  in 
prosecuting  the  impeachment  of  Judge  Smith,  and  who  spoke  for 
three  days  during  that  proceeding  in  a  strain  of  unsurpassed 
eloquence. 

But  John  Reynolds,  Sidney  Breese,  Zadoc  Casey,  Henry  Eddy, 
Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  Nathaniel  Pope,  William  J.  Gatewood,  and 
others,  still  survived,  and  were  engaged  more  or  less  actively  in 


BENCH   AND   BAR  OF   CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  43 

the  duties  of  their  profession,  in  judicial  positions,  or  in  the 
more  exciting  affairs  of  political  life. 

About  that  time  younger  members  of  the  bar  began  to  appear 
upon  the  public  stage  in  Central  Illinois,  many  of  whom  have 
since  acquired  great  eminence  in  their  profession,  and  high 
distinction  in  the  political  history  of  the  State  and  Nation. 
Among  them  are  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Abraham  Lincoln,  John 
J.  Hardin,  James  Shields,  John  A.  McClernand,  O.  H.  Browning, 
Archibald  Williams,  John  T.  Stuart,  Lyman  Trumbull,  E.  D. 
Baker,  and  Stephen  T.  Logan,  whose  names  may  be  frequently 
seen  in  the  earlier  reports  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  some  of 
whom  still  survive. 

Our  first  Constitution  was  framed  in  the  summer  of  1818.  It 
established  a  Supreme  Court  of  four  judges,  who  were  also 
required  to  hold  Circuit  Courts,  and  who,  with  the  governor, 
constituted  a  Council  of  Revision.  They  were  elected  by  the 
General  Assembly.  Joseph  Phillips  was  the  first  Chief-Justice, 
and  Thomas  C.  Browne,  William  P.  Foster,  and  John  Reynolds 
were  Associate-Justices. 

Phillips  was  represented  as  a  lawyer  of  fine  intellectual  endow- 
ments. He  resigned  his  seat  upon  the  bench  in  1822,  and 
became  a  candidate  for  governor  against  Edward  Coles,  but  was 
defeated.  Thomas  Reynolds  was  appointed  in  his  place. 

Judge  Foster  is  described,  historically,  as  no  lawyer  and  a  great 
rascal.  It  is  said  that  he  never  read  or  practised  law,  but  obtained 
his  appointment  by  his  winning  and  polished  manners.  He  was 
assigned  to  the  Wabash  district,  but  resigned  his  position  before 
he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  William  Wilson  was 
appointed  his  successor  in  August,  1819. 

Judge  John  Reynolds  says  that  the  material  for  the  bench  was 
not  at  that  time  as  good  as  it  might  have  been;  but  the  State 
government  was  launched  into  existence,  in  the  hands  of  com- 
mon-sense men,  and  sound  and  honest  patriots;  that  the  judges 
were  all  young  and  had  not  that  long  practice  at  the  bar  that 
was  necessary  to  give  standing  and  character  to  their  decisions; 
but  the  law  was  administered  with  less  form  and  ceremony,  yet 
with  as  much  equity  and  justice  as  at  the  present  time. 


44  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

As  an  evidence  of  the  want  of  form  and  ceremony,  he  relates 
that  he  held  his  first  court,  in  the  spring  of  1819,  in  Washington 
County,  among  his  old  friends  and  comrades.  The  sheriff  was 
an  old  ranger  like  himself.  Sitting  astride  a  bench  at  the  court- 
house, at  the  commencement  of  the  term,  he  proclaimed,  without 
rising:  "The  court  is  now  open !  John  is  on  the  bench." 

Not  long  after,  in  Union  County,  where  he  presided,  the 
deputy-sheriff  exclaimed :  "Oh  yes!  oh  yes!  oh  yes!  the  honor- 
able judge  is  now  opened." 

In  January,  1825,  the  Legislature  elected  Wm.  Wilson,  Chief- 
Justice,  and  Thomas  C.  Browne,  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  and 
Theophilus  W.  Smith,  Associate-Justices,  and  required  them  to 
hold  the  Supreme  Court  twice  a  year,  at  the  seat  of  Government. 
It  created  five  judges,  John  Y.  Sawyer,  Samuel  McRoberts, 
Richard  M.  Young,  James  Hall,  and  John  O.  Wattles,  who  were 
to  perform  Circuit-Court  duties  at  the  munificent  salary  of  $600 
per  annum.  But  the  people  were  so  dissatisfied  with  the  extrava- 
gant expenditure  of  the  public  money  that  the  next  Legislature 
repealed  the  law,  divided  the  State  into  five  circuits,  retained  R. 
M.  Young  as  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  the  military  district, 
and  required  the  Supreme  judges  to  hold  Circuit  Court. 

Judge  Wilson,  at  the  time  of  his  elevation  to  the  honorable 
position  of  Chief-Justice,  was  only  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  He 
had  already  been  upon  the  Supreme  bench  five  years  as  Associate- 
Justice.  He  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1795,  and  came  to  Illinois 
in  1817.  Within  a  year  after  his  arrival,  he  was  chosen  to  the 
place  of  Judge  Foster.  He  was  remarkably  correct  in  all  his 
transactions,  and  secured  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the 
people  by  his  gentlemanly  deportment  and  the  urbanity  of  his 
manners.  He  remained  upon  the  bench  until  the  Constitution 
of  1848  went  into  effect,  when  he  retired  to  private  life.  Asa 
writer,  his  style  was  clear  and  distinct.  As  a  lawyer,  his  judg- 
ment was  sound  and  discriminating.  As  a  judge,  his  learning 
and  impartiality  commanded  respect,  and  his  public  opinions 
are  characterized  by  sound  reasoning  and  good  sense. 

Judge  Browne  also  remained  upon  the  bench  until  the  new 
Constitution  was  adopted,  although  a  strenuous  effort  had  been 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  45 

made  to  remove   him  by  impeachment  at  the  session  of   the 
Legislature  of  1842-3. 

He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Supreme  Court  since  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1818.  He  was  kind  and  gentle- 
manly in  his  deportment,  and  friendly  to  all,  but  possessed  no 
legal  attainments,  and  was  utterly  unfit  for  the  high  and  respon- 
sible position  which  he  occupied.  The  few  decisions  which  he 
rendered  were  upon  the  points  of  practice,  or  upon  questions  oi 
the  simplest  character.  The  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by 
his  brother  judges  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  incident: 
On  one  occasion,  when  a  case  had  been  referred  to  him  for 
decision,  he  requested  time  for  deliberation.  "O  pshaw,  judge," 
said  one  of  the  court,  "you  may  as  well  guess  now  as  at  any 
other  time." 

The  attempt  to  impeach  him  was  on  the  ground  of  incom- 
petency.  His  home  had  been  at  Shawneetown,  but  upon  the 
reorganization  of  the  Supreme  Court,  he  had  been  assigned  to 
the  Galena  district,  with  the  hope  th.it  this  stroke  of  unfriendly 
legislation  would  be  unsatisfactory  and  induce  him  to  resign. 
But  as  he  was  willing  to  accept  the  position  with  all  its  incon- 
veniences, a  determined  effort  was  made  to  remove  him,  and 
specifications  were  filed  before  the  Senate  by  Thos.  Drummond, 
S.  C.  Hempstead,  Thompson  Campbell,  and  A.  L.  Holmes, 
charging  that  he  did  not  possess  that  natural  strength  of  mind, 
nor  the  legal  and  literary  learning,  indispensable  to  the  proper 
discharge  of  the  high  and  responsible  duties  devolving  upon  him 
as  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court;  that  his  opinions  in  that 
•court  were  written  and  revised  by  others ;  that  his  decisions  upon 
the  Circuit  were  the  mere  echoes  of  the  ideas  of  some  favorite 
attorney;  and  that  by  nature,  education,  and  habit,  he  was 
wholly  unfit  for  his  position.  The  Senate,  however,  declined  to 
examine  into  the  charges.  The  House,  in  committee  of  the 
whole,  went  several  times  into  their  investigation,  but  finally 
.asked  to  be  discharged  from  their  further  consideration. 

Judge  Browne  therefore  retained  his  position,  and  remained 
upon  the  bench  until  the  Supreme  Court  was  reorganized  under 
the  new  Constitution. 


46  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

Judge  Lockwood  had  been  Attorney-General  in  1822.  About 
that  time  an  attempt  was  made  by  many  prominent  politicians 
to  convert  Illinois  into  a  slave-state.  The  Legislature  of  1822 
passed  a  resolution,  recommending  the  electors  to  vote  at  the 
next  election  for  or  against  a  Convention,  the  avowed  purpose  of 
which  was  to  amend  the  Constitution,  so  that  slaves  could  be 
introduced  into  the  State.  The  late  Chief-Justice  Joseph  Phillips, 
the  newly-elected  Chief-Justice  Thomas  Reynolds,  Judge  The- 
ophilus  \V.  Smith,  Judge  Samuel  McRoberts,  and  R.  M.  Young, 
afterward  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  were  all  in  favor -or the 
amendment.  But  Judge  Lockwood,  and  other  able  writers  and 
orators,  were  zealously  opposed  to  it.  A  bitter  canvass  raged 
for  nearly  eighteen  months,  in  which  the  question  of  introducing 
slavery  was  discussed  in  the  midst  of  great  excitement.  The 
Convention  scheme,  however,  was  finally  defeated  by  a  majority 
of  about  eighteen  hundred,  and  Illinois  remained  a  free-state. 

Judge  Lockwood  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  by 
the  Legislature,  in  January,  1825,  and  remained  upon  the  bench 
until  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1848.  He  was  remark- 
ably modest  in  his  character,  but  a  man  of  great  intelligence, 
energy,  and  determination.  He  was  inflexibly  honest  and  up- 
right, a  sound  lawyer,  an  impartial  judge,  and  an  ornament  to- 
the  bench. 

Judge  Smith  was  also  elected  as  Associate -Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  by  the  Legislature,  in  January,  1825.  Judge 
Ford  says:  "He  was  a  sagacious,  active,  and  blustering  poli- 
tician. He  had  for  a  long  time  aimed  to  be  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate.  His  devices  and  intrigues,  to  this  end, 
had  been  innumerable.  In  fact,  he  never  lacked  a  plot  to- 
advance  himself  or  to  blow  up  some  other  person.  He  was  a 
laborious  and  ingenious  schemer  in  politics,  but  his  plans  were 
always  too  complex  and  ramified  for  his  power  to  execute  them. 
Being  always  unsuccessful  himself,  he  was  delighted  with  the 
mishaps  alike  of  friends  and  enemies;  and  was  ever  chuckling 
over  the  defeat  or  the  blasted  hopes  of  some  one.  But  he  made 
nothing  by  all  his  intrigues.  By  opposing  the  Reform  Bill,  he 
fell  out  and  quarreled  with  the  leaders  of  his  party.  He  lost 


BENCH   AND  BAR   OF  CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  47 

the  credit  he  had  gained  by  being  the  Democratic  champion  on 
the  bench.  He  failed  to  be  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  was  put  back  to  the  laborious  duty  of  holding  Circuit  Court." 

At  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1832,  he  was  im- 
peached and  tried  before  the  Senate.  The  House  reported  four 
different  specifications  for  malpractice  and  corruption  in  office. 
The  managers  on  the  part  of  the  House  were  Benjamin  Mills, 
John  T.  Stuart,  James  Semple,  Murray  McConnell,  and  John 
Dougherty.  The  defendant's  counsel  were  Sidney  Breese,  Thos. 
Ford,  and  Richard  M.  Young. 

The  trial  attracted  great  attention,  not  only  at  the  seat  of 
government,  but  throughout  the  State.  It  occupied  about  one 
month.  The  vote  in  the  Senate  was  about  equally  divided;  but, 
as  the  Constitution  required  a  majority  of  two-jhirds  to  convict, 
the  judge  was  acquitted.  He  retained  his  seat  upon  the  bench 
until  December,  1842,  when  he  resigned. 

Notwithstanding  his  reputation  as  an  unscrupulous  politician, 
Judge  Smith  was  recognized  as  a  man  of  strong  mind  and  con- 
siderable mental  vigor,  and  as  a  good  lawyer. 

In  1835,  tne  Legislature  again  created  Circuit  Judges,  and 
continued  to  add  to  their  number  until  there  were  nine  circuits. 
But  by  the  act  of  1841,  it  legislated  the  nine  judges  out  of  office, 
increased  the  number  of  the  Supreme  judges  from  four  to  nine, 
and  elected  Thos.  Ford,  Sidney  Breese,  Walter  B.  Scales,  Samuel 
H.  Treat,  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  all  Democrats,  in  addition  to 
the  four  judges  then  upon  the  bench.  The  change  was  a  bitter 
partisan  measure,  and,  in  the  language  of  Governor  Ford,  "one 
confessedly  violent  and  revolutionary,  and  could  never  have 
succeeded  except  in  times  of  great  party  excitement.  The  con- 
test in  the  Presidential  election  of  1840  was  of  such  a  turbulent 
and  fiery  character,  and  the  dominant  party  in  this  State  had 
been  so  badly  defeated  in  the  Nation  at  large,  by  the  election  of 
General  Harrison,  that  they  were  more  than  ever  inclined  to  act 
from  motives  of  resentment  and  a  feeling  of  mortification.  The 
dominant  party,  therefore,  came  to  the  work,  thirsting  for  revenge, 
as  well  as  with  a  determination  to  leave  nothing  undone  to  secure 
their  power  in  this  State  at  least." 


48  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

Two  important  suits  were  connected  with  this  change  in  the 
judiciary  system.  An  attempt  was  made  to  remove  Alexander  P. 
Field  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State.  He  and  three  of  the 
Supreme  judges  belonged  to  the  Whig  party.  When  Governor 
Carlin  came  into  office  in  1838,  he  claimed  the  right  to  appoint 
a  new  secretary  before  any  vacancy  existed.  He  nominated 
John  A.  McClernand;  but  the  Senate,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-two  to 
eighteen,  declared  that  the  executive  did  not  possess  the  power 
to  nominate  a  secretary,  except  in  case  of  vacancy,  and  they 
therefore  rejected  the  nomination.  After  the  adjournment  of 
the  Legislature  he  undertook  to  appoint  McClernand  as  secre- 
tary, who  thereupon  demanded  possession  of  the  office,  but  was 
refused.  McClernand  then  filed  an  information,  in  the  nature  of 
a  quo  warranto,  before  Judge  Breese,  in  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Fayette  County,  who  decided  in  his  favor.  Field  took  an 
appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  where  the  decision  was  reversed. 
Aside  from  the  political  questions  involved,  the  case  was  of  con- 
siderable importance.  Able  counsel  appeared  on  each  side. 
For  the  appellant  were  Cyrus  Walker,  Justin  Butterfield,  and 
Levi  Davis.  For  the  appellee,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Jas.  Shields, 
and  Wickliffe  Kitchell,  the  Attorney-General.  Wilson  and  Lock- 
wood,  the  Whig  judges,  concurred,  and  Smith  dissented.  Browne 
being  connected  with  the  relator,  declined  to  sit  in  the  cause. 
The  Court  decided  that  the  Governor  did  not  possess  the  power 
of  removing  the  Secretary  of  State  at  his  pleasure;  that  when 
that  officer  was  once  appointed,  he  continued  in  office  during 
good  behavior,  or  until  the  Legislature  limited  the  term  or 
authorized  some  public  functionary  to  remove  him.  The 
decision  caused  great  excitement  in  political  circles  against  the 
"Whig  Court,"  because  it  prevented  the  Democrats  from  occu- 
pying one  of  the  principal  offices  of  the  government;  and  it  had 
a  considerable  influence  in  causing  a  reorganization  of  that 
tribunal. 

But  there  was  another  suit  which  was  considered  of  far  greater 
political  importance,  and  which  threatened  the  Democratic  party 
with  the  danger  of  losing  their  political  control  of  the  State,  and 
consequently  all  their  power  and  patronage.  This  was  the 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF   CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  49 

celebrated  Galena  alien  case.  The  Constitution  of  1818  pro- 
vided that  in  all  elections,  all  white  male  inhabitants,  above 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  having  resided  in  the  State  six 
months  next  preceding  the  election,  should  enjoy  the  right  of  an 
«lector.  Nine-tenths  of  the  foreign  vote  were  Democratic,  and 
as  the  aliens  numbered  about  ten  thousand,  if  they  were  excluded 
from  the  polls,  the  approaching  Presidential  election  would  be 
•determine'd  in  favor  of  the  Whigs. 

In  order  to  test  the  right  of  aliens  to  vote,  without  having 
been  naturalized,  an  agreed  case  was  instituted  in  the  Circuit 
Court  at  Galena,  between  two  Whigs,  to  recover  the  penalty  of 
$100  under  the  law  of  1829,  because  the  defendant,  who  had 
acted  as  judge  of  the  election,  had  received  the  vote  of  an  alien. 
Judge  Dan  Stone,  before  whom  the  case  was  tried,  decided  that 
an  alien  was  not  entitled  to  exercise  the  electoral  franchise, 
and  therefore  imposed  the  penalty  prescribed  by  the  statute. 
The  case  was  immediately  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  ably 
argued  upon  its  merits  at  the  December  term,  1839,  but  was 
continued  to  the  next  June  term,  during  the  heat  of  the  Presi- 
dential canvass.  There  was  a  general  apprehension  that  the 
•case  would  be  decided  by  the  Whig  Court  against  the  right  of 
aliens  to  vote,  whereby  the  State  would  be  carried  by  the  Whig 
party.  But  Judge  Smith  came  to  the  rescue  of  his  friends,  and 
pointed  out  to  the  counsel  a  clerical  defect  in  the  record,  which 
•caused  a  continuance  of  the  case  to  the  December  term,  beyond 
the  date  of  the  Presidential  election.  When  it  came  up  for  final 
•decision,  the  constitutional  question  was  avoided,  and  the  Court 
very  properly  decided  that  as  the  alien,  whose  vote  was  in  ques- 
tion, was,  by  admission  of  both  parties,  possessed  of  all  the 
•qualifications  required  by  the  law  of  1829,  the  Court  erred  in 
imposing  the  penalty. 

Meanwhile,  the  bill  to  reorganize  the  Supreme  Court  was 
pending  before  the  Legislature.  It  was  boldly  charged  by 
Douglas  in  a  speech  before  the  lobby,  which  in  those  days  had 
considerable  political  influence,  that  the  main  question  had  been 
purposely  evaded  by  the  Court,  so  as  to  conciliate  Democratic 
favor  and  defeat  the  bill.  Its  introduction  had  created  a  great 


SO  RECOLLECTIONS   OF  THE 

deal  of  feeling  and  excitement  among  all  parties.  It  was  not 
only  opposed  by  the  members  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  also 
by  the  nine  Circuit  judges,  a  majority  of  whom  were  Democrats. 
It  finally  passed,  however,  but  was  returned  by  the  council  of 
revision  with  their  objections.  They  regarded  it  as  physically 
impossible  for  nine  judges  to  hold  Circuit  Courts  in  all  the 
counties  of  the  State,  and  discharge  their  duties  as  a  Supreme 
Court,  and  also  attend  at  the  seat  of  government  as  a  council  of 
revision.  The  nine  Circuit  judges  had  found  it  impossible  to 
attend  to  all  the  business,  in  consequence  of  the  vast  increase 
in  the  number  of  suits.  To  impose  this  burden  upon  the 
Supreme  judges,  in  addition  to  their  other  duties,  they  con- 
tended would  result  in  great  delay,  if  not  in  an  absolute  denial 
of  justice.  The  bill,  however,  was  repassed  in  the  Senate,  not- 
withstanding the  objections,  by  a  large  majority;  but  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  by  only  a  majority  of  one. 

A  protest  was  signed  by  thirty-five  members  of  the  House  and 
spread  upon  the  journals.  Among  the  names  we  find  those  of 
the  following  lawyers,  who  have  become  distinguished  in  the 
annals  of  the  State  and  the  Nation:  Cyrus  Edwards,  a  brother 
of  Gov.  Ninian  Edwards.  He  was  a  candidate  for  governor  of 
this  State  in  1838,  in  opposition  to  Gov.  Carlin,  who  was  elected, 
and  who,  in  the  felicitous  language  of  John  Reynolds,  made  a 
wise  and  prudent  governor,  and  "retired  to  private  life  with  the 
decided  approbation  of  the  people."  Also  John  J.  Hardin,  who 
was  popular  in  his  manners,  and  bold  and  impetuous  in  his 
character.  He  enlisted  in  the  Mexican  war,  was  elected  colonel 
of  the  ist  regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers,  and  fell,  gallantly 
fighting,  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista.  Also  D.  M.  Woodson, 
who  has  since  been  elected  as  Circuit  judge,  and  occupied  the 
bench  a  number  of  years.  Also  E.  B.  Webb,  a  man  of  great 
decision  of  character,  eminent  as  a  lawyer,  and  influential  as  a 
politician.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  also  among  the  members  who 
protested  against  the  passage  of  the  bill.  And  also  Jos.  Gillespie, 
who  was  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  Madison  judicial 
circuit  for  some  years,  who  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
political  affairs,  and  who  is  the  only  surviving  lawyer  who  signed 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF   CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  51 

the  protest.  The  five  additional  judges  above  named,  were 
elected  under  the  provisions  of  this  act.  As  thus  constituted, 
the  Supreme  Court  continued  to  exist  until  it  was  dissolved  by 
the  Constitution  of  1848. 

It  is  not  the  only  instance  in  the  history  of  our  country,  where 
courts  have  been  reorganized  for  the  express  purpose  of  securing 
some  political  advantage.  As  the  courts  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  were  held  at  Springfield 
about  1840,  many  of  the  prominent  lawyers  from  various  portions 
of  the  State  were  regular  in  their  attendance.  Among  them  were 
O.  H.  Browning,  Archibald  Williams,  Thomas  Drummond,  Justin 
Butterfield,  Cyrus  Walker,  J.  Y.  Scammon,  John  D.  Caton,  I.  N. 
Arnold,  Charles  Ballance,  William  Thomas,  Lyman  Trumbull, 
Walter  B.  Scales,  Joseph  Gillespie,  Gustavus  Koerner,  E.  B. 
Washburne,  and  others,  whose  names  are  frequently  seen  in  our 
earlier  reports,  and  who  acquired  a  wide  reputation  as  sound  and 
able  lawyers. 

Were  it  our  privilege  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the  living,  as  well 
as  the  virtues  of  the  dead,  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  dwell  upon 
reminiscences  connected  with  their  history.  We  could  point  to 
the  munificent  liberality  of  one;  to  the  fine  literary  taste  and 
varied  accomplishments  of  another;  to  the  extraordinary  forensic 
eloquence  of  several;  to  the  judicial  honors  worthily  bestowed 
upon  many,  as  well  as  to  the  profound  learning  and  extensive 
legal  attainments  of  all.  But  we  forbear.  Time  is  rapidly 
hurrying  them  onward,  while  the  angel  of  history  is  patiently 
waiting  to  inscribe  their  honored  names  upon  the  roll  of  fame. 

The  State  having  been  divided,  in  1841,  into  nine  judicial 
circuits,  the  territory  embraced  by  each  was  of  considerable 
extent.  The  Sangamon  district  included  Woodford  County  on 
the  north  and  Shelby  County  on  the  South,  and  extended  as  far 
east  as  Coles.  The  sessions  of  court  were  held  twice  in  the 
year.  As  legal  business  at  home  during  the  long  vacations  was 
very  inconsiderable,  the  lawyers  were  compelled  to  travel  upon 
the  circuit.  In  the  spring,  they  generally  went  on  horseback,  on 
account  of  muddy  roads  and  swollen  streams.  Bridges,  in  the 
unsettled  portions  of  the  counties,  were  scarce,  and  the  sloughs 


52  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

were  frequently  difficult  to  cross.  The  grass  was  so  thickly 
matted  together,  and  its  roots  so  densely  entwined,  that  the  rains 
passed  off  very  slowly.  The  roads  generally  ran  through  the 
middle  of  the  prairies,  and  often  there  were  stretches  of  twelve 
or  fifteen  miles  without  a  house  or  any  sign  of  improvement. 
I  have  traveled  sometimes  nearly  all  day  without  meeting  a 
human  being  or  passing  a  single  farm.  Almost  everybody  con- 
sidered it  his  duty  to  exercise  the  rights  of  hospitality,  and  the 
latch-string  generally  hung  out.  On  one  occasion  I  rode  from 
breakfast  time  until  after  dark,  through  prairies  covered  with 
water,  after  heavy  rains.  At  length  I  stopped  at  a  cabin  and 
knocked  for  admittance,  but  receiving  no  answer,  I  opened  the 
door,  and  saw,  by  the  bright  moonlight,  chairs  and  beds  arranged 
in  perfect  order,  but  no  inmates.  Being  very  hungry  I  searched 
for  something  to  eat,  and  fortunately  found  some  meat  and  corn- 
bread  in  nicely  covered  dishes.  Of  course  I  levied  upon  the 
provisions  for  supper;  and  took  possession  of  one  of  the  beds, 
where  I  slept  comfortably  and  undisturbed  until  morning,  when 
I  went  on  my  way  rejoicing. 

On  another  occasion,  in  1838,  I  stopped  at  a  cabin  in  Logan 
County,  near  the  site  where  the  magnificent  institution  for  the 
feeble-minded,  has  recently  been  erected  by  the  State.  The 
woman  complained  very  much  because  the  population  was 
becoming  too  dense.  She  said  her  family  would  be  compelled 
to  remove  further  west,  where  they  would  not  be  troubled  by  so 
many  neighbors.  In  the  morning,  I  discovered  one  house  in 
sight,  and  no  more,  and  in  the  direction  of  Springfield  it  was 
about  eight  miles  to  the  nearest  farm. 

In  the  spring,  to  my  young  and  ardent  mind,  the  prairies  were 
surpassingly  beautiful.  Covered  with  luxuriant  grass,  interspersed 
with  flowers  of  every  hue,  which  gracefully  bent  with  every 
passing  breeze,  they  possessed  a  charm  that  can  never  be  for- 
gotten. 

These  are  the  gardens  of  the  desert,  these 

The  unshorn  fields,  boundless  and  beautiful, 

And  fresh  as  the  young  earth,  ere  man  had  sinned — 

The  prairies — I  behold  them  for  the  first, 

And  my  heart  swells,  while  the  dilated  sight 

Takes  in  the  encircling  vastness.     Lo!  they  stretch 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF   CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  53 

In  airy  undulations  far  away, 

As  if  the  ocean  in  his  gentlest  swell 

Stood  still,  with  all  his  rounded  billows  fixed 

And  motionless  forever. 

The  hotel  accommodations  at  that  early  day  were  of  the 
humblest  kind.  Sometimes  we  were  fortunate  enough  to  sleep 
on  a  bedstead,  but  frequently  upon  the  floor.  The  rooms  were 
generally  crowded  with  jurors,  witnesses,  parties  litigant,  and 
others,  who  had  come  not  merely  to  attend  court,  but  to  witness 
a  horse-race,  or  a  circus,  or  some  theatrical  performance,  which 
were  generally  the  side-shows  of  a  Circuit  Court  in  those  primi- 
tive times.  At  the  first  session  of  the  court  held  at  Taylorville, 
in  Christian  County,  the  county-seat  consisted  of  two  houses, 
each  containing  one  room.  One  was  occupied  by  the  court  and 
the  other  as  a  saloon.  The  business  was  dispatched  the  first 
afternoon,  and  the  judge  and  the  bar  rode  ten  miles  in  a  drizzling 
rain  to  find  shelter  for  the  night. 

When  not  engaged  in  business,  lawyers  spent  their  leisure 
hours  in  social  conversation,  singing  songs,  telling  stories,  and 
playing  cards  or  practical  jokes  upon  each  other.  Hon.  William 
L.  May,  who  had  been  a  member  of  Congress,  having  some 
musical  taste,  carried  his  violin  with  him.  Mr.  Lincoln  abounded 
in  anecdotes,  of  which  he  seemed  to  possess  an  inexhaustible 
fund.  No  one  could  relate  a  story  without  reminding  him  of  one 
of  a  similar  character,  and  he  generally  capped  the  climax.  His 
stories,  though  rude,  were  full  of  wit.  He  relished  whatever  had 
a  nib  to  it,  as  he  expressed  it.  He  generally  laughed  as  loudly 
as  others  at  his  own  witticisms,  and  provoked  laughter  as  much 
by  the  quizzical  expression  of  his  homely  features,  and  the 
heartiness  of  his  own  enjoyment,  as  by  the  drollery  of  his 
anecdotes. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  slow  thinker.  It  seemed  as  if  every  prop- 
osition submitted  to  his  mind  was  subjected  to  the  regular 
process  of  a  syllogism,  with  its  major  proposition  and  its  minor 
proposition  and  its  conclusion.  Whatever  could  not  stand  the 
test  of  sound  reasoning  he  rejected.  Though  honest  by  instinctive 
impulse,  he  became  still  more  so  by  the  logical  operation  of  his 
mind.  He  would  not  accept  a  fee  in  a  bad  cause.  He  would 


54  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

not  argue  a  case  before  a  jury  for  the  sake  of  argument,  when 
he  believed  he  was  wrong.  No  man  was  stronger  than  he  when 
on  the  right  side,  and  no  man  weaker  when  on  the  opposite.  A 
knowledge  of  this  fact  gave  him  additional  strength  before  the 
court  or  a  jury,  when  he  chose  to  insist  that  he  was  right.  He 
indulged  in  no  rhetorical  flourishes  or  mere  sentimental  ideas, 
but  could  illustrate  a  point  by  one  of  his  inimitable  stories,  so  as 
to  carry  conviction  to  the  most  common  intellect.  He  used 
plain  Saxon  words,  which  imparted  strength  to  his  style,  at  the 
expense,  it  may  be,  of  elegance,  but  which  were  understood  and 
appreciated  by  the  masses  of  the  people.  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon, 
of  New  Haven,  whose  learning  and  scholarship  are  well  known, 
once  told  me  that  he  considered  the  Cooper  institute  speech  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  one  of  the  purest  specimens  of  composition  in 
Saxon  words  to  be  found  in  the  English  language. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  power  of  overwhelming  an  adversary  by  anec- 
dote, or  an  illustration,  was  demonstrated  on  one  occasion,  when 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  A  gentleman  who  had 
formerly  been  Attorney-General  of  the  State  was  also  a  member. 
Presuming  upon  his  age,  experience,  and  former  official  position, 
he  thought  it  was  incumbent  upon  him  to  oppose  Mr.  Lincoln, 
who  was  then  one  of  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  his  party.  He 
therefore  took  especial  pains  to  reply  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches, 
and  was  so  persistent  in  his  assaults  that  he  became  positively 
annoying  and  offensive.  He  at  length  attracted  the  attention  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  who  replied  to  his  remarks,  and  then  told  one  of 
his  humorous  anecdotes,  and  made  a  personal  application  to  his 
opponent,  which  placed  him  in  such  a  ridiculous  attitude,  and 
which  was  so  apropos,  that  it  convulsed  the  whole  house  of 
representatives  with  laughter.  All  business  was  at  once  sus- 
pended. In  vain  the  Speaker  rapped  with  his  gavel.  In  vain 
the  door-keepers  endeavored  to  preserve  order.  Members  of  all 
parties,  without  distinction,  were  involuntarily  compelled  to 
laugh.  They  not  only  laughed,  but  they  screamed  and  yelled. 
They  pounded  upon  their  desks.  They  thumped  upon  the  floor 
with  their  canes.  They  clapped  their  hands.  They  threw  up 
their  hats.  They  shouted  and  twisted  themselves  into  all  sorts 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  55 

of  contortions,  until  their  sides  ached  and  the  tears  coursed 
down  their  cheeks.  The  lobby  was  as  badly  infected  as  the 
House.  It  was  a  scene  of  indiscribable  confusion.  One  par- 
oxysm passed  away,  but  it  was  speedily  succeeded  by  another, 
and  again  they  laughed,  and  screamed,  an$  yelled.  Another  lull 
occurred,  and  still  another  paroxysm,  until  they  seemed  to  be 
perfectly  exhausted.  Lt  is  needless  to  add  that  the  ambition  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  opponent  was  abundantly  gratified,  and  that  for  the 
remainder  of  the  session  he  relapsed  into  a  condition  of  profound 
obscurity. 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  intimate  friends,  and  a  partner  in 
the  practice  of  law  for  some  years,  and  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful lawyers  of  this  State,  was  Stephen  T.  Logan,  of  Sangamon 
County.  He  came  from  Kentucky  when  thirty-two  years  of  age, 
bringing  with  him  a  high  reputation,  and  soon  obtained  a  leading 
position  at  the  Springfield  bar,  which  was  then  and  afterward, 
during  his  career,  adorned  by  such  distinguished  lawyers  as 
Baker,  Stuart,  Lincoln,  Douglas,  McDougal,  Edwards,  Hay, 
Palmer,  McClernand,  and  others.  In  1835  he  was  elected 
Circuit  judge  by  the  Legislature,  and  after  serving  in  that 
capacity  about  two  years,  he  resigned  because  of  the  inadequacy 
of  the  salary.  He  was  elected  several  times  to  the  Legislature, 
and  always  took  a  prominent  part  in  debate.  His  opinions 
were  received  with  deference,  and  he  exercised  an  extraordinary 
influence  by  the  integrity  of  his  character  and  his  fairness  in 
discussions. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1848, 
and  by  his  characteristic  wisdom,  prudence,  and  economy  mater- 
ially assisted  in  the  adoption  of  some  of  the  best  provisions  of 
that  Constitution. 

In  1848  he  was  nominated  as  the  Whig  candidate  for  Congress 
in  his  district,  in  opposition  to  Col.  Thomas  L.  Harris,  who  had 
just  returned  from  a  brilliant  career  in  Mexico,  with  his  brow 
adorned  with  military  laurels.  Lincoln,  Baker,  and  Logan  then 
constituted  a  triumvirate,  and  were  the  three  political  leaders  in 
their  congressional  district.  Each  was  ambitious  to  serve  his 
country  at  Washington  City.  It  was  understood  that  they  would 


56  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

be  candidates  in  rotation.  Baker  had  been  elected,  and  was 
occupying  his  seat  when  the  war  with  Mexico  commenced. 
Lincoln  succeeded  him  according  to  agreement.  Logan,  in  his 
turn,  became  a  candidate,  but,  being  utterly  destitute  of  those 
qualities  which  win  the  popular  heart,  and  being  opposed  by  a 
gallant  soldier,  who  had  achieved  success  upon  the  battle-field, 
he  was  signally  defeated.  He  was  too  honest  in  the  declaration 
of  his  principles  to  succeed  in  political  life,  and  would  never 
condescend  to  the  arts  and  chicanery  by  which  demagogues  are 
accustomed  to  clamber  into  office. 

He  was  appointed,  by  Governor  Yates,  one  of  the  seven  com- 
missioners to  represent  the  State  in  the  celebrated  Peace  Con- 
vention, which  met  at  Washington  prior  to  Mr,  Lincoln's  inaugur- 
ation. His  efforts  there  were  conservative  in  their  character,  and 
he  pleaded  powerfully  for  the  preservation  of  peace.  In  one  of 
his  speeches  he  remarked: 

"Instead  of  dreaming  of  news  from  the  seat  of  war,  and  of 
marching  armies,  I  have  thought  of  a  country  through  which 
armies  have  marched,  leaving  in  their  track  the  desolation  of 
a  desert;  I  have  thought  of  harvests  trampled  down;  of  towns 
and  villages,  once  the  seat  of  happiness  and  prosperity,  reduced 
to  heaps  of  smoking  ruins;  of  battle-fields  red  with  blood,  which 
has  been  shed  by  those  who  ought  to  have  been  brothers;  of 
families  broken  up,  or  reduced  to  poverty;  of  widowed  wives,  of 
orphaned  children,  and  all  the  other  misfortunes  which  are 
inseparably  connected  with  war.  This  is  the  picture  which 
presents  itself  to  my  mind  every  day  and  every  hour.  It  is  a 
picture  which  we  are  doomed  soon  to  witness  in  our  country, 
unless  we  place  a  restraint  upon  our  passions,  forget  our  selfish 
interests,  and  do  something  to  save  our  country." 

In  his  professional  career  he  stood  preeminent.  He  possessed 
the  rare  faculty  of  perceiving  almost  intuitively  the  strong  points 
of  a  case,  and  the  remarkable  power  of  making  clear  and 
distinct  to  a  court  or  a  jury,  the  perceptions  which  he  himself 
entertained.  Distinctions,  which  to  others  would  possess  no 
difference,  were  recognized  by  the  extraordinary  keenness  of  his 
intellect  and  magnified  by  the  lucid  character  of  his  argument, 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  CENTRAL   ILLINOIS.  57 

until  courts  and  juries  were  convinced  of  the  correctness  of  his 
views.  He  won  many  a  triumph  by  the  fairness  of  his  state- 
ments and  the  logical  precision  of  his  speeches.  He  disdained 
the  arts  of  sophistry  and  appealed  generally  to  the  understanding 
of  his  hearers,  though  there  were  occasions  when  he  would 
indulge  in  the  flowers  of  rhetoric  and  attempt  to  move  a  jury  by 
an  earnest  and  impassioned  eloquence.  He  was  universally 
recognized  by  the  bench  and  the  bar  as  the  great  nisi  prius 
lawyer  of  the  State,  and  clients,  who  were  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  his  services  considered  it  as  a  sure  presage  of  victory. 

He  was  small  in  stature  and  frail  in  constitution,  but  a  piercing 
deep-set  eye  and  a  large  cranial  development,  imparted  a  highly 
intellectual  appearance  to  his  almost  infantile  features.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty,  although  I  have  heard  him  say,  nearly  forty 
years  ago,  that  he  did  not  expect  to  live  beyorid  sixty  years  of 
age.  He  will  long  be  remembered  for  his  public  services  as  a 
legislator,  for  his  ability  as  a  judge,  and  for  his  eminent  success 
as  a  lawyer. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  Col.  E.  D.  Baker.  He  was 
an  ornament  to  the  bar.  Although  somewhat  abrupt  in  his 
manners,  he  was  pleasing  in  his  address;  but  the  charms  of  his 
eloquence  overbalanced  every  other  consideration,  and  courts 
and  crowds  were  alike  captivated  by  his  oratory.  Possessed 
with  a  powerfully  retentive  memory,  the  acquisition  of  knowledge 
was  an  easy  matter.  He  reveled  amidst  the  fields  of  literature, 
as  well  as  of  law,  and  culled  many  a  flower  of  rhetoric,  which  he 
scattered  again  with  rich  profusion.  Before  the  Mexican  war  he 
delivered  three  lectures  without  notes  upon  the  arts  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  before  large  and  fashionable  audiences,  showing  great 
research  and  remarkable  tenacity  of  memory.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  last  legislature  that  was  held  at  Vandalia,  and,  as  an 
evidence  of  his  versatility  of  his  tastes  and  habits,  it  is  said  that 
at  one  moment  he  would  be  playing  at  marbles  with  the  boys, 
and  the  next  he  would  be  addressing  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  strains  of  lofty  eloquence.  He  was  intensely  ambitious. 
Arnold  says  a  friend  found  him  sitting  on  a  fallen  tree 
weeping  bitterly.  On  being  pressed  to  tell  the  cause  of  his 


58  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

grief,  he  said :  "  I  have  been  reading  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  I  find  a  provision  in  it  that  none  but  native- 
born  citizens  can  be  President.  I  am  an  Englishman  by  birth, 
and  therefore  can  not  be  elected."  I  have  only  to  say  that  Baker 
himself  always  denied  this  charge.  He  said  he  was  not  sitting 
upon  a  fallen  tree  on  that  occasion,  but  upon  an  old  stump.  Not 
only  the  refined  and  the  intellectual  listened  with  pleasure  to  the 
easy  flow  and  the  musical  cadance  of  his  language;  not  only  did 
courts  and  juries  wonder  at  the  extent  of  his  legal  knowledge  con- 
sidering the  carelessness  of  his  habits;  not  only  were  representa- 
tives and  senators  carried  away  by  his  eloquent  strains,  but  the 
masses  of  the  people  recognized  his  ability  and  received  him  with 
apturous  applause  whenever  he  was  pleased  to  address  them.  He 
was  greedy  of  popular  favor.  I  remember  his  electioneering-coat 
It  was  rather  small  for  his  well-made  and  graceful  figure.  The 
flaps  were  widely  separated  from  each  other.  The  inexpensive 
garment  hung  awry  upon  him,  and  looked  like  an  old  dilapidated 
flag  at  half-mast.  But  he  performed  wonderful  feats  in  his 
affected  dress,  and  swayed  the  multitude  at  his  pleasure  by  the 
magic  power  of  his  eloquence.  He  was  bold  as  a  lion.  In 
those  early  days,  when  politics  ran  high,  he  was  sometimes  sur- 
rounded by  danger,  but  no  threats  could  intimidate  him;  no 
peril  could  make  him  quail.  He  became  representative  in  the 
Legislature  of  1837,  and  Senator  in  1840.  He  was  elected  to 
Congress  in  1844,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  Mexican 
war  he  left  his  seat,  raised  the  4th  Illinois  regiment,  and  united 
with  the  army.  When  the  gallant  Shields  fell  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  Baker  instantly  took  command  of  the 
brigade,  charged  magnificently  upon  the  enemies'  guns,  and 
helped  to  complete  the  utter  route  of  the  Mexican  army. 

In  1852  he  went  to  California.  There  he  became  popular, 
notwithstanding  his  politics.  The  enthusiastic  impulses  of  his 
genius  corresponded  with  the  fiery  energies  of  the  population. 
He  applied  himself  assiduously  to  the  practice  of  his  profession 
and  took  a  conspicuous  position  in  the  first  rank  of  the  members 
of  the  bar.  At  the  funeral  of  Broderick  he  delivered  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  orations  that  ever  adorned  the  English  Ian- 


BENCH   AND   BAR   OF   CENTRAL  ILLINOIS.  59 

guage.  For  an  hour  or  more  the  homage  of  tears  was  paid  to 
Baker's  genius  and  Broderick's  memory  by  the  vast  multitude 
which  had  assembled  to  pay  the  tribute  of  their  love  and  affec- 
tion. The  closing  words  of  this  wonderful  eulogy  are  remarkable 
for  their  touching  pathos. 

Said  he:  "The  last  word  must  be  spoken,  and  the  imperious 
mandate  of  death  must  be  fulfilled.  Thus,  O  brave  heart!  we 
lay  thee  to  thy  rest.  Thus,  surrounded  by  ten  of  thousands,  we 
leave  thee  to  the  equal  grave.  As  in  life  no  other  voice  among 
us  so  rang  its  trumpet-blast  upon  the  ear  of  freeman,  so  in  death 
its  echoes  will  reverberate  amidst  our  mountains  and  our  valleys 
until  truth  and  valor  cease  to  appeal  to  the  human  heart.  Good 
friend !  true  hero !  hail  and  farewell !" 

After  the  death  of  Broderick,  Baker  went  to  Oregon  and 
entered  with  great  zeal  into  the  canvass  of  1859,  and  was  elected 
by  the  Legislature,  Senator  in  Congress  from  that  State.  He  had 
now  arrived  at  the  summit  of  his  political  ambition.  By  the 
urbanity  of  his  manners;  by  the  elegance  of  his  style;  by  his 
readiness  in  debate,  he  took  a  leading  position  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  Senate,  and  exerted  all  his  energies,  and  all  the 
powers  of  his  eloquence,  in  the  support  of  Lincoln's  administra- 
tion. But  the  ardent  impulses  of  his  nature,  and  his  thirst  for 
military  glory  led  him  instinctively  toward  the  battle-field.  The 
last  time  I  saw  him  was  at  the  eastern  portico  of  the  capitol  at 
Washington.  Solitary  and  alone,  he  was  leaning  against  one  of 
the  pillars  absorbed  in  deep  reflection.  What  were  his  thoughts 
and  what  the  promptings  of  his  fierce  ambition  were  only  known 
to  him  and  his  Maker.  A  few  minutes  after  he  was  mounted 
upon  his  charger,  at  the  head  of  his  California  regiment,  march- 
ing through  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  amidst  all  the  pomp  and 
circumstance  of  war,  and  amidst  the  thousands  that  had  assem- 
bled to  witness  the  grand  but  mournful  display.  His  military 
career  was  brief  and  sad.  In  October,  1861,  he  fell  at  Ball's 
Bluff  helplessly  contending  against  a  concealed  and  superior  foe, 
a  willing  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  his  adopted  country.  In  his 
own  language  we  may  well  exclaim:  "Good  friend!  true  hero! 
hail  and  farewell!" 

But  time  would  fail  me  on  this  occasion  to  refer  in  detail    to 


6o  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   THE 

many  others  who  are  entitled  to  honorable  mention  as  members 
of  the  early  bench  and  bar  of  Central  Illinois. 

We  can  occupy  your  attention  only  for  a  moment  with  refer- 
ence to  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Springfield  bar,  and  who  won  the  soubriquet  of  the  "little  giant" 
forty  years  ago.  The  language  of  eulogy  has  been  exhausted  by 
his  admiring  friends.  No  man  ever  had  more  enthusiastic  adher- 
ents. As  a  young  man  he  was  extremely  affable  in  his  manners, 
and  endeavored  to  make  himself  agreeable,  in  his  private  inter- 
course, to  men  of  all  parties.  Ambitious  of  distinction,  he 
assiduously  endeavored  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  masses  of 
the  people,  and  by  his  deferential  manners,  as  well  as  by  his 
extraordinary  talent,  he  succeeded  in  winning  the  popular  favor. 
He  took  advantage  of  every  opportunity  to  advance  his  political 
prospects.  He  became  the  idol  of  his  party,  and  was  rapidly 
elevated  from  one  political  position  to  another,  until  he  became 
a  distinguished  member  of  the  United  States  Senate,  and  a 
prominent  candidate  for  Presidential  honors.  The  great  debate 
between  him  and  Lincoln  will  long  be  remembered,  and  history 
will  record  this  grand  intellectual  contest  as  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  that  was  ever  witnessed  in  any  age  or  any  country. 

Lincoln  and  Douglas  were  the  honored  chiefs  of  their  respec- 
tive parties,  and  are  the  grandest  characters,  intellectually  and 
politically,  which  have  graced  the  annals  of  our  State.  In  many 
respects  they  were  preeminent  among  our  most  distinguished 
lawyers  and  statesmen.  As  their  destinies  were  associated  in  their 
early  manhood,  and  intertwined  with  each  other  in  their  maturer 
years,  so  their  memories,  indissolubly  united,  will  be  embalmed 
together  in  the  pages  of  history  with  those  of  the  most  remark- 
able men  of  our  nation. 

The  remains  of  one  repose  upon  the  shores  of  your  lake, 
whose  dashing  waves  will  forever  sound  his  praises  and  sing  a 
requiem  for  his  departed  spirit;  while  those  of  the  other  slumber 
beneath  a  magnificent  monument,  whose  lofty  column  will  for 
many  ages  awaken  the  recollection  of  his  numerous  virtues  and 
his  illustrious  career. 

Illinois  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  her  statesmen,  her  judges, 
and  her  lawyers. 


